Thanks, Noel. The taller section of that block was our hardware store and the lower block to the south was originally my great-grandparents' house and later my grandparents'. My Dad and his three siblings were all born there. Once they grew up and took over the business, the old house became the "back office" where my older Aunt (Amy) ran things as company secretary.

My dad was the ironmonger's shop manager, initially with a non-family member as an assistant. Two of my uncles ran an auto service and repair business in a large two-story addition behind the shop. Another uncle ran a body repair and spray-painting shop in a wooden building on the south side of the backyard. A fourth uncle ran the gas station at Turpin Green/Canberra Road which was later bought out and run by Bob Barton, the owner of the motor-cycle dealership near the gasworks. There was also a jobbing machine shop in the north end or the building, of which my grandfather was the boss. Following my grandfather's death, about 1954? the machine shop was closed down.

The family did a major re-model of the business in the late 1950's. They shut down the auto businesses and opened up the lower floor of the shop part of the building. They branched out into a lot of other product lines and some of the relatives who had worked in the auto side came to work on the retail side. One uncle left and became a test driver at LML.

When my Dad's generation got older and wanted out, my generation wanted nothing to do with the business. The aging family members closed down and liquidated the company. My Dad became a wholesale hardware salesman for a few years. The others retired.